Machine for sorting and counting paper money



Jan. 5, 1932. A. E. ARD 1,839,973

MACHINE lFOR SORTING AND COUNTING PAPER MONEY Original Filed June 29, 1926 8 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 5, 1932. A. E, LARD 1,839,973

MACHINE FOR SORTING AND GOUNTING PPER MONEY Original Filed June 29, 1926 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 attenua@ v Jan 5, 1932. A. E. LARD 1,839,973

MACHINE FOR SORTING AND COUNTING PAPER MONEY v Original Filed June 29, 1926 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 "5 r v o Jan. 5, 1932. A/E. LARD 1,839,973

MACHINE FOR SORTING AND COUNTING PAPER MONEY Original Filed June 29, 1926 8 Sheets-Shea?l 4 `am. 5, 932. A. E. LARD y 1,839,973

MACHINE FOR SORTING AND COUNTING PAPER MONEY original Filed June 29, 192e 8 sheds-,sheet 5 y Jan. 5, 1932. A. E. LARD 1,839,973

MACHINE FOR SORTING AND COUNTING PAPER MONEY Original Filed June 29, 1926 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 jan- 5, m32'. A. E. LAR@ 198355,97??

MACHINE FOR SORTING AND COUNTING PAPER MONEY original Filed June 29, lza 8 sheets-sheet 7 jam 59 QE A, LAR@ 1,8395973 MACHINE FOR SORTING AND COUNTING PAPER MONEY Original Filed June 29, 1926 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Patented Jan. 5, 1932 UNITED STATESl PATENT OFFICE ALLAN E. LAIRD, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT 0F COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE FEDERAL BILL COUNTER COMPANY, 0F WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, A CORPORA- TION 0F DELAWARE MACHINE FOR SORTING AND COUNTING- PAPER MONEY Original application led June 29, 1926, Serial No. 119,411. Divided and this application iiled August 30,

i 1927. Serial No. 216,414 and in Great Britain June 29, 1927.

' This invention relates to machines for sort- `ing and counting paper money and particularly to such machines of the general type shown in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,159,826 of Nov. 9, 1915, to J. P. Buckley, andvNo. 1,328,263 of Jan. 20, 1920, to J. P. Buckley and A. E. Lard.

, In banking establishments it is desirable that the paper money handled be assorted and arranged in packages or bundles of a predetermined number of bills. Generally one hundred bills are stacked together and bound by a strap of paper, the strap carrying a notation of the sum of money in the stack and an identification of the person responsible for the assembling and counting of the stack. Such a stack is commonly designated a strap. Paper money received by banks in packages or straps must be assorted and also accurately counted to check the correctness of the amount represented to be in each package by the notation on its strap; this is called verifying the strap. Paper money received in loose or unstrapped condition must also 'be accurately assorted and counted into stacks and each stack strapped With a notation on the strap of the amount in the strap and of the person responsible for the counting. By

' such counting of either unstrapped bills or strapped bills, or both, the total amount or sum of paper money handled is ascertained and verified. The sorting of paper money into packages or straps usually puts in each strap only bills of the same denomination. Sometimes there is a further differentiation in the sorting between lit and unfit bills. Some banking institutions require still further sorting into classes such as legal, silver, Federal Reserve Bank Notes, fit and unfit, etc. The performance entirely by hand of such Work of assorting and counting paper money requires assorting and counting as separate operations and involves much time and is correspondingly expensive. To reduce the expense and avoid the errors found to be inevitable in such hand-counting and assorting of paper money, it has heretofore been proposed to provide machines for doing that Work.

A general object of the present invention is the provision of means by the use of which i and of the identity of the person responsible for the counting. l

Further objects, more or less related to the aforesaid general object, are the provision, in conjunction or association with paper money assorting and counting mechanism, of means which will facilitate and expedite to the approximate maximum the handling and the convenient and readil accessible temporary storage o'r filing o the paper money, from the time it is received by the person entrusted With the counting thereof until it leaves the custody of said person duly counted and strapped in packages; and the combining of such associated means and asserting and counting mechanism in a. single organization, or what may be termed an installation unit, capable of being furnished, marketed and installed as such in any convenient space'in a bank, mercantile establishment, or the like, said unit in and by itself including all necessary provision for the counting, assorting, and convenient handling and storage or filing of the money from the time said money is delivered to the operator or person in charge of the installation unit until the money leaves said unit.

A further object is the provision of means whereby, upon occasions of necessitated temporary absences from an installation unit, the operator thereof can readily close and lock such compartments of the unit as may contain paper money either awaiting assortin fand counting, already assorted and counte or both.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved paper money assorting and counting machine capable of accurate and reliable operation at high speed.

machines of the type disclosed in the here' inbeiore enumerated patents wherein there are a plurality of compartments for the different assortmcnts of bills respectively, and to each compartment a pair of feeding and counting rollers to which the bills are fed by hand one by one, each bill being automat ically counted by its passage between the rollers.

Further objects of the present invention are the provision, in an assorting and counting machine and particularly in such a machine of the type above named, of new and improved means for automatically stopping the feed rollers, and particularly for so stopping said rollers after a predetermined number of bills have been fed into any one of the severa-1 compartments for receiving bills directly from the rollers; of manually operable means for releasing the aforesaid automatic roller stopping means; of means for assuring the flow of electric current between the upper and lower feed rollers when no bill is passing between the latter, and particularly the provision for that purpose of a yielding contact so constructed and mounted as not to impede or interfere with the passage of bills between the rollers and between said yielding contact and its cooperating contact; of manually operable means for insuring disengagement or release of the brake members after the same have been automatically engaged to arrest rotation of the feed rollers; of manually operable starting means (such as an electric switch having two on positions) adapted to put the machine in operation with the counters thereof inoperative, a condition desirable in testing and adjusting, or to put the machine in operation with the counters operative, that being the normal working condition; of new and improved means insuring the delivery of bills from the feed-rollers into the com artments in such condition that the bills will be smoothly stacked without bends or folds therein whether they be old and flimsy or new and relatively stili, and particularly the provision of such means including lower eed rollers so formed as to impart a trough-shape to bills passing thereover; of new and improved means for controlling the flow of electric current which actuates the counters or registers and the upper money supporting shelves or flaps, where y said parts will operate accurately and reliably at high speed; of new and improved means, closures, or guards, located at the exits from the several compartments of the counting and assorting machine for preventing bills introduced into said compartments from accidentally passing or falling out of the same, said means being so constructed as to be readily displaceable to positions leaving said exits unobstructed for the withdrawal of bills from the comparthanging from the guards or closures of the upper compartments and thus assisting in holding said last-named guards in and retiuning them to their normal positions.

This 1s a division of my application filed June 29th, 1926, Sr. No. 119,411, and particularly relates to the subject matter set forth 1n the appended claims.

The aforesaid and other objects and advantages are attained by the present invention as will be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating what 1s at present regarded as the preferred mechanical embodiment of the invention. In said drawings- Fig. 1 shows in side elevation a complete installation unit;

. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the complete installation unit shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail perspective of aportion of the front of the counting mechamsm;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through a portion of the counting mechanism with some parts shown in elevation;

Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views of an electrical contact member adapted to cbmplete an electrical circuit b its engagement with one of the money-fee ing rollers;

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of a pair of the feed-rollers and associated parts and showing a piece of paper money being fed between and by said rollers;

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view showing the lower hinged money-supporting shelves or flaps and the manually operable means for swinging said shelves downward to drop money from the shelves into spaces or compartments beneath the same;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a. register or counter, there being one such counter to each pair of feeding and counting rollers.

Figs. 10, 11, and 11a, are detail views of the counter shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 12 is a detail view showing a modified construction of parts of the counter of Figs. 9 and 10;

Fig. 18 (sheet one) is a detail sectional view of one type of clutch which may be employed in rotating the money-feeding rollers;

Fig. 14 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical circuits and various parts of the mechanism to which said circuits are connected. For"simpliiication of illustration this view showsonly two pairs of money-feeding rollers and their corresponding counters and portion of the front of the machine and showing means for locking the lower moneysupporting shelves or iiaps in the1r horlzontal or elevated ositions.

The unit installation provided by this 1nvention includes paper money assorting and counting mechanism shown at the ri ht 1n Figs. 1 and 2, a work-table shown at t e left in said figures and arranged back to back with said mechanism, and a papermoney storage or filing case positioned above and adapted to be moved, preferably rotated, to face its open side toward either said mechanisrn or said table.

The assorting and counting mechamsm will first be described. It has supporting legs l, t-wo of wh-ich appear in Fig. 1, a cablnet above the legs, and bill-feeding and counting mechanism at the top portion of said cabinet. The cabinet is closed at its bottom, has a back wall 2 and end-walls 3, 3 and is open at its top and also at its front except forclosure means at the front presently described. Equally s aced vertical parallel partitions 4 divide tile interior of the cabinet into spaces each of which is horizontally divided by a pair of hinged shelves, shutters, or fiaps, 5. 5 into two compartments, the lower preferably deeper than the upper. In the particular embodlment shown in Fig. 1,.there are six such upper compartments and immediately beneath them six lower compartments, with a pair of the iiaps 5, 5 between each upper compartment and its corresponding lower compartment. Any7 other desired number of compartments may be employed. Means are provided for normally maintaining the flaps 5 in horizontal bill-supporting position and for swinging them downward on their horizontal pivot rods 5a (Fig. 8) to drop or discharge bills into the lower compartments 7. A sleeve '8, rigidly secured to the rear end of each pivot rod 5a, has a pair of arms 8a projecting therefrom at right angles to the axis of said pivot. A shaft 9, supported in brackets mounted at convenient points on the frame, extends transversely of the machine and closely adjacent to the arms 8a substantially in the horizontal plane of the pivots 5a. A series of fingers l1 are carried by the rod 9 in positions to extend into the slots formed between the pairs of arms 8a respectively. A bell-crank lever secured to one end of the shaft 9 has an upper arm 12 and a lower arm 13.- A pullrod 14 is pivotally attached to the upper arm 12 and extends to a convenient point at the front of the frame by which it is slidably supported. A spring is attached at one end to the lower arm 13 and at its opposite end anchored at a suitable point on the frame. Normallythe spring 15 acts through the bellcrank lever, shaft 9, fingers 11, and arms 8a, to maintain the flaps 5 in a horizontal position. If it is desired to discharge bills from the upper compartments v`6 into the lower compartments 7, the operator manually pulls rod 14 toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 8, whereupon all of the fiaps 5 are swung downward in unison about their pivots 5a to a substantially vertical position, whereupon .the bills may fall by gravity into the lower compartments 7. Sprin 15 returns the flaps 5 to normal position wren pull upon rod 14 is released.

The lmeans for feeding bills into each of the upper compartments 6 include a pair of feedrollers, one pair for each compartment, and means are provided for facilitating the feeding of the bills to the rollers. Extending transversely of the front of the machine at a suitable distance above the iaps 5, is a series of feed-trays 16 (Fig. 2) which are preferably concave in section, as most clearly shown in Fig. 4. Extending transversely of the machine frame immediately to the rear of trays 16 and slightly below the bottoms thereof, is a rotatably mounted shaft 17 which carries a plurality of lower feed-rollers 18 so spaced along shaft 17 as to position one roller directly in front of each compartment 6.

Difliculty has heretofore been encountered in feeding old or fiimsy bills into counting machines because of a tendency of the forward ends of such bills to droop and fold or double up after passing the feed rollers, thereby preventing proper stacking of the bills. To-overcome such diiiculty, the lower feed rollers 18 are preferably formed in such a manner as to present a substantially concave surface to the bills, whereby their long sides are bent upwardly and a certain amourt of longitudinal rigidity thus given each bill. Each of the. lower feed-rollers is preferably formed in three sections all rigidly attached to shaft 17. As shown, the center section 18a is constituted by a cylindrical sleeve and the lll() two end sections 181) are substantially frusto-.

conical in shape, the small end of each of the cone-shaped portions being in abutting engagement with the opposite ends of the sleeve mounted above the lower feed-rollers 18 respectively, in a manner to be described more fully hereinafter. Each upper roller 19 normally has direct engagement with the central portion 18a of the corresponding lower feed- Upper feed-rollers 19 are rotatably if Jill by their peripheral engagement with the lower rollers. For this purpose there is employed an electric motor which is preferably provided with a suitable. speed regulator. and which is preferably mounted on and carried by the frame beneath the lower cone partments 7. Any suitable drive may be interposed between the motor 20 and the shaft 17. ln the form shown, the motor has a pulley 21 (Fig. 14) engaged by suitable belting 22 which also passes over a pulley 23 mounted on one end of shaft 17.

ln certain instances. for example, to stop the passage of more than one bill at a time through the rollers. it is desirable to stop the rotation of the lower feed-rollers 18 without stoppingthe motor 20. For that. purpose a clutch. preferably a friction-clutch (Fig. 13)

is interposed between pulley 23 and shaft 17,

said clutch being adapted to readily slip when overloaded as when there is an application of the brake hereinafter described. ln the form shown, the friction-clutch includes a lianged sleeve 24 which is floated on shaft 17 and rigidly attached by screws 25 to the pulley 23. The lange of sleeve. 24 is yieldingly maintained by a coil-spring in driving engagement with a plurality of balls 27, which are carried in a housing 28 rigidly secured to shaft 17 by means of a pin 29. Spring 30 is retained on the end of shaft 17 in abut-ting engagement with the pulley and sleeve by means of nut 31. Any other suitable formof trictioircluteh may be employed in place of the one illustrated and described.

Adjustable means are provided for mounting the upper feed-rollers 19 whereby a single bill may be readily fed between the rollers, but in the event the operator should inadvertently feed two or more superposed bills simultaneously between any pair of the rollers. all of the rollers will be automatically stopped. For this purpose, the frame of the machine includes a. bar 32 (Fig. 4) extending across the front of the machine and in the rear edge of which bar a yokeshaped frame 34 is secured by a bolt 33. said frame including a pair of arms 34a (Fig. 7). Frame 34 is insulated from the machine frame as clearly shown in Fig. 4. Pivotally secured to frame member 34, by a pivot-member 35 extending through arms 34a, is a bearing block 36 provided with a rearwardly extending arm 36a which engages the pivot 35. and also provided with a pair of downwardly extending arms 36?). An axle 37 is rotatably mounted in the arms 367). and has upper feed-roller 19 rigidly attached thereto intermediate said arms. An oil-cup 38 Fig. 7) is secured to each of arms 36a for lubrication of the journal of axle 37 in said'arm. A bearing-seat 39 in the upper surface of block 36 is preferably formed of suitable insulating material. The lower end of pin 40 rests in the cup 39 and the upper extremity of said pin engages a seat formed in the lower end of an adjusting screw 41 which is threaded into a rock-arm 42 rigidly secured to a transversely extending sha .t'43. A suitable opening 32a is provided in the 'trame-lair 32 to permit free passage of pin --1-0. Preferably the adjusting screw 41 is provided with a knurled head 41a by which it may be adjusted to determine the thickness of paper money that may be passed between the roller 19 and its cooperating roller 18 without actuating the hereinafter described brake mechanism to stop rotation of all of the feed rollers. The desired adjustment leaves slight play or freedom of pin 40 between its top and bottom seats, just sufficient to permit roller 19 to be lifted the thickness of one bill without imparting upward movement to pin 40 suiiicicnt to rotate shaft 43, but at the same time the adjustment is such that the introduction between the rollers of two superposed bills will impart upward movement to pin 40 sufficient to rotate shaft 43 in a manner to bring about actuation of the brake mechanism to stop rotation of all of the feed rollers. A suitable spring 44, mounted on the pivot 35 with its free ends bearing upon the upper sur face of the block 36, serves to yieldingly maintain an upper roller in light engagement with lower roller 18 except when a bill is being fed between the rollers. The shaft 43 is rotatably mounted in brackets 45 (Fig. 4) which may be formed on or secured to the bar 32. In order that any excessive upward movement of roller 19 relative to roller 18, such for example as is imparted to the roller 19 when two superposed bills are simultaneously fed between the rollers, will result in the stoppage of the feed-rollers. the shaft 43 is provided with means for bringing about actuation of brake mechanism for stopping the rotation of shaft 17 carrying lower feed-rollers 18. Secured to one end of the shaft 43 is a two-part lever constituted by members 46 and 47 (Figs. 3 and 4). Member 46, which may be provided on its front or outer end with a depending counter-weight portion 46a, has at itsinner end an upwardly-extending arm 46?) to which the member 47 is pivoted. A suitable spring 48 yieldingly draws the forward end of member 47 downward into engagement with the upper edge of member 46. The rearward end of member 47 is provided with a contact 49 adapted to engage a contact 50 for closing an electric circuit through an electromagnet 51. Fulcrumed at a suitable point 52 on the frame of the machine is a brake-lever 53 provided on its outer arcuate end with a. brake-shoe 54 adapted to engage the grooved periphery of a brake-drum 55. The brake-shoe is normally maintained out of engagement with the brakedrum 55 by a coil-spring 56 attached to the inner end of the lever 53 and at its other end anchored to a suitable part of the frame. The upward movement of the brake lever 53 is limited by a stop screw 57 adjustable in an opening through a block of insulating ma- 18 and 19 results in upward movement of roller 19 a distance equal to the thickness of the bill; this, according to the adjustment before described, does not move the pin 40 upward suiiicient. to rotate shaft 43 and impart upward movement to the two-part lever 46-47. But should the operator accidentally or inadvertently feed two superposed bills between the feed-rollers, the pin 40 will be moved upward suiiicient to rotate the shaft 43 enough to thereby lift the two-part lever and engage its contact 49 with contact 50, thus closing a circuit which will energize electromagnet 51, which in turn will drawdown the lever 53, engage its brake-shoe 54 with the brake-drum 55, and thereby stop rotation of the shaft 17 and hence of all of the feed-rollers. It is not necessary under these conditions to stop the driving motor 20, because with the shaft 17 held against rotation by the brake the clutch (Fig. 13) between the pulley 23 and shaft 17 will slip while the pulley continues to be rotated from the'motor by the belt 22. Should the thickness of the plurality of superposed bills (more than two for example) inadvertently fed between a pair of rollers be sufficient to elevate the two-part lever more than enough to enga-ge the contact 49 with contact 50, no damage to the mechanism or wedging of the bills between the rollers will result, because in that event the spring 48 will permit the forward end of lever-part 47 to be lifted from its contact with the upper edge of part 46 and thereby accommodate the extra upward movement of the parts. Under such conditions the tension of spring 48 will be added to that of spring 44 in ressing the roller 19 against the superposed) bills interposed between said roller and its cooperating roller 18.

For releasing the brake, after it has been applied by two or more superposed bills in the manner just described, and thus permitting the feed rollers to resume rotation, manually operable means are provided in conjunction withA the two-part lever 46--47 for further actuating the same to disengage the contact 49 from contact 50 to thereby deenergize the brake magnet 51 and for thereafter also lifting the brake-shoe 54 out of engagement with the groove of brake-drum 55 to insure disengagement of these brake parts in case the tension of spring 56 should be insufficient for that purpose. While the tension of spring 56 should be sufficient to hold the lever 53 elevated against its stop screw 57, it is not desirable to use a more powerful spring because that would necessitate the use of a more powerful magnet to draw the lever down against the tension of the spring. Hence it may sometimes happen that upon de ener 'zation of the brake magnet 51 the grip o the brake-shoe in the groove of the ra e-drum will resist the lifting ower of the spring 56 upon the lever 53. T e aforesaid manual lifting of the brake-shoe out of engagement with its drum provides against such contingency and insures resumptionof rotation of the feed-rollers when all is in readiness to continue counting and sorting of the paper money. As shown in the drawings the manually operable means consists of a push-member or key 59 secured to and pro- ]ectlng forward from the counter-wei ht portion 46a of the lever 46. Assuming t at two or more superposed bills have assed ypart way between two feed rol1ers,t ereby closing the contacts 49 and 50, energizing magnet 51, applying the brake and thus stopping rotation of all feed rollers-thus warned of an abnormal condition requiring correction, the operator will grip with her right hand the inner end of t e superposed bills where they project beyond the rollersress inward ment with the upper ends of pins 4() and thus relieves any pressure that spring 48 may have been exerting through one of said ins 40 and corresponding roller 19 upon t e two superposed bills engaged by said roller. In other words, the added pressure of spring 48 is removed leaving only the normal pressure of spring 44 pressing roller 19 into contact with the two superposed bills and thereb avoiding excess pressure and wedging-whic might interfere with the further operation of the mechanism. The first part of the said further upward movement of the two-part lever 46-47 causes the inner end of leverpart 47 to engage and ivot against a stopscrew 58 carried by a racket member 58a, thereby moving the inner end of lever-part 47 downward and disengaging contact 49 from its cooperatin contact 50 and thus deenergizing the bra e-magnet 51; the latter not been already lifted by its spring 56 immediately upon the deenergization of the brake-magnet 51. The brake having thus been released by the actuation of push member 59, the feed rollers immediately resume rotation and complete the feeding ofthe superposed bills still grlpped by the right hand of the operator. After noting how many superposed bills there are, say two, the operator drops the upper one into thc compartment to correspond to the count of one that has been added on the register b y the passage of the bills between the rollers, and then feeds the other bill between the rollers of the compartment to which 1t belongs by the sorting` to register a count of it. t

While, as above noted, the mechanism 1s susceptible of being adjusted to stop all of the feed rollers by the introduction of two superposed bills between any pair of the feed rollers, nevertheless under such condr tions of adjust-ment a bill folded back upon itself at a corner or end will not actuate the brake and stop the eedrollers because at the high speed at which the rollers rotate the two thickness portion of the bill will pass between the rollers before the brake can act to stop the rollers.

If desired, the apparatus may embody means for automatically stopping the driving motor at the same time the feed-rollers are stopped. For example, the brakearm 53 may be provided with a contact 58@ (Fig. 15) adapted to engage a contact 53d mounted at a suitable point on the frame of the machine. As pointed out above. the brakearm 53 normally occupies a raised position with the brake-shoe 54 disengaged fromv the drum 55, and when said brake arm is in that position contact 530 has engagement with contact 53d to complete a circuit 20a through the motor 20. When solenoid 51 is energized and arm 53 is moved downwardly to engage the brake-shoc 54: with the brake-drum 55, cont-acts 530 and 58d' are separated and the circuit 20a to the motor 2O is opened, thereby stopping said motor. Disengagement of the brake-shoe from the drum, in the manner hereinbe'ore pointed out, closes the contacts 530 and 53d and again starts the motor.

To insure proper stacking of the bills in the various compartments means are provided for cooperating with the concave lower rollers 18 to prevent folding or bending of the forward or advancing end of each bill as it is fed into a compartment. For this purpose each of the upper compartments is provided with a pair of swinging shutters or flaps 60, carried by pivots 60a rotatably supported on the frame of the machine in substantially the same horizontal plane as the bottom of the feed-plates 16. Associated with said flaps are means for swinging them downwardly about pivots 60a to a substantially vertical position to permit a bill supported by said flaps to fall by gravity into a compartment 6. Preferably electrically-actuated means are employed for controlling the movement of the flaps 60. Current for said electrically-actuated means ma be controlled by a master-switch 61, which also controls current for motor 20, said switch being mounted at a convenient point on the front of the machine (Figs. 2 and 14). Current is led from the power-line (Fig. 14) through suitable leads 62 to the switch 61 adapted to be moved to two on positions. When the switch is moved to the first .on position current flows through leads 63 past terminals mounted on block 64 to energize the motor 20. Simultaneously current flows through lead 65 and a suitable number of contact points 66'to shaft 17 and lower feedrollers 18'. From feed-rollers 18 the current flows upwardly through upper eed-rollers 19 normally in engagement therewith, and thence through lead 67, and corresponding leads, such as 67 a, to the coils of a plurality of solenoids 68, respectively, one solenoid being provided for each of the upper compartments. Or preferably the current should flow in the reverse direction so as to pass from the upper feed-rollers 19 to the lower feed-rollers 18. Fig. 14 shows only the feedrollers, electric apparatus, and electric circuit connections, for the first and last compartments, breaks in the circuit conductors indicating where omissions have been made of the electric apparatus for intermediate compartments. As soon as the coils 68 are energized the pivoted armatures 89 are drawn downwardly against the tension of springs 70 (see also Fig. 15). r1`he rea-r ends of the pivots 60a ot each pair of daps 60 are operatively connected together and to the armatures 69 by means or suitable linkage. A right angle member 121i 15) is rigidly mounted on the pivot member 80e of one or" a pair of the flaps 60. The portion of the member 124e which extends to right angles to the longitudinal axis of pivot member 60a passes underneath a pin 125 carried on the end of the armature 69, engagement between these parts being maintained; by the spring 'Z0 which is suitably secured to the member 124 and acts through the latter to normally maintain the armature 69 ina raised position against a suitable stop 126. Rigidly attached in any desired manner to pivot 60a, adjacent the member 124, is a lever 127 which is pivotally connected to a link 128 that extends transversely of the upper compartment in the rear thereof, and has pivotal engagement at its opposite end with a lever 129 which is rigidly attached to the pivot 60a of the other flap 60 of the pair. Then the solenoid 68 is energized armature 69 is drawn downwardly against the tension of spring 70 and the flaps are moved through levers 127, 129, and link 128 to a vertical position. When the circuit is broken through the coils of the solenoid 68 spring 70 acts through member 124 to return the armature 69 to normal raised position ieu and through the pair of levers and the link 128 returns the flaps 60 to their raised position which may be at an angle of approximately or thereabouts to the horizontal.

When a bill is fed beween a pair of rollers 18, 19. the rollers are separated, breaking the electric circuit which includes the coils of the solenoids 68 associated with the particular rollers between which the bill is passing.

The corresponding arma-ture 69 is thereby released and spring 70 swings the flaps 60 upwardly through an angle of approximately 45 to 60 and the forward portion of the bill as it passes through the rollers is supported by said fiaps. As the rear end of the bill leaves the rollers, the circuit to the solenoids 68 is again established, the armature 69 is drawn downwardly, the flaps are returned to a vertical position, and the bills fall by gravity into the upper compartment 6 the bottom of which is constituted by a pair of flaps 5, 5, as before described.

It is desirable .that each bill be counted as it passes into a compartment and that the total number of bills passed into the various compartments be counted. For this purpose each compartment is preferably provided with an electrically-actuated counter or register 71 (Figs. 9, 10 and 14), and associated therewith is -a totalizer or a master-counter 72, common to all of the counters 71. Preferably, the compartment counters 71 are mounted on a portion 73 of the machine frame above and in the rear of the upper compartments 6 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) and the totalizer 72 is preferably mounted on the upper right hand side of the machine (Figs. land 2). Each of the solenoids 68 is provided with a small armature 74 (Figs. 14 and 15) which constitutes one of a pair of controls for the owof current through the associated counter 71 and totalizer 72. When the switch 61 is turned to its first on position, the current flows through lead 63, lead 75, a bar 76, a contact 76a, armature 74, and a lead 77, to the windings of the counter 71 and totalizer 7 2. These windings are not energized, however, since the circuit to the same is open at switch 61, no Contact being established at this time at said switch with the lead 77. Simultaneously with said flow of current through leads 63, 75, etc., the current flows through lead 65, rollers 18, 19, lead 67, to the windings of the solenoid 68 energizing the latter and drawing armatures 69 and 74 downwardly, breaking the circuitbetween armatures 74 and contacts 76a. The two controls for the counter 71 and totalizer 72 are constituted by switch 61 and armature 74 at each of which the return circuit 77 through said counters and totalizer is broken when said switch is in its first on position.

Before starting the machine upon regular work, and from time to time thereafter durlng the progress of regular work, it is desirable to make adjustments and also tests of the mechanism. Such tests involve the feeding of bills between the feed-rollers, as in the case, for example, of attaining the desired adjustment to exclude the passage of more than one bill at a time. )Vith the counters in operation such feeding of bills between the rollers would actuate the counters, thus requiring that they be reset to where they were or allowance or correction otherwise made for the counting during testing. To eliminate the chance of errors by such resetting the counters, or errors from forgetting to reset the counters. or in otherwise allowing for such counting during testing, it is desirable to put the counters out of operation during such testing or adjusting. The aforesaid first on position of the switch 61 attains this and otherwise provides the desired conditions in that it sets the feed-rollers in operation and renders the mechanism operative with the exception of the counters, no current being made available for actuating thereof. Thus, bills may be fed between the pairs of feedrollers and the mechanism otherwise tested and adjusted without disturbing the counters, whether they stand at zero or indicate the results of asserting and counting already in progress and unfinished.

After testing and adjusting with switch 61 in its first on position, the operator turns said switch to its second on position, thereby closing the return circuit 77 at said switch but since armature 74 has been drawn downwardly by solenoid 68 the circuit through the counters and totalizer is still open at said armature. Such an arrangement is found desirable due to the fact that if the return circuit 77 is not broken at switch 61 at the time current is supplied to leads and 62, said current may low through the armature 74 and the coils of the counter and totalizer, thereby prematurely actuating said counter and totalizer prior to the passage of a bill between the feed rollers. If, when switch 61 is in its second on position and armature 74 is down, a bill is passed between any pair of rollers 18, 19, the solenoid 68 associated with said pair of rollers will be deenergized in a manner before described, whereupon a spring 78 moves armature 74 into engagement with Contact 7 6a, closing the circuit through the counter 71 associated with the particular compartment into which the bill passes and also through the totalizer 72. The closing of the circuit through the counter and totalizer actuates these members and the bill is counted in a manner to be hereinafter described.

Various types of counters may be employed in the present machine, but preferably said counters are of the magnetic type and embody means for stopping the rotation of the feedrollers after a predetermined number of bills have been fed into any one compartment.

Preferably the predetermined number is one hundred. In the form shown, the totalizer 72 is of substantially the same construction as the counters 71 but does not embody means for stopping the feed-rollers. Referring to Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 11a, each of the counters 71 comprises an actuating electromagnet including the usual windings energizing poles 79, 79 between which poles an oscillatory armature 80 is rotatably mounted and adapted to be oscillated in clockwise direction by energization of the poles and to be oscillated in reverse direction back to normal position by means of a spring (not shown), all as is well understood in the art. Actuation of armature 80 by passage of current through the electromagnet also results in rotation of the usual numeralwheels 81 and 82. A manually-operable member 88 is provided for setting the numeral Vwheels to zero position. Associated with and fixedly connected to the tens wheel 82 to rotate therewith, is a. disk 84 provided with a cam projection 84a which, upon a complete rotation of disk 84.i (that is at the count of one hundred.) engages one end of rod 85 and moves it endwise. At its other end rod 85 is rigidly secured to an upstanding arm of a plate 860 the latter having at its opposite ends two ears 865 by which said plate pivots on a manually operable rod 87 passing through said ears and secured in one ear whereby endwise movement of rod 87 will be communicated to plate 860 and through it to rod 85 moving the latter side wise. As best shown in Fig. 11a, the end oi' rod 87 which passes through ear 865 is reduced, forming on the rod a shoulder bearing against the inner surface of said ear, the tip end of the rod beyond the ear being bent over to prevent its withdrawal from the opening through which it passes, and in this inanner securing the rod to the ear. An electric contact point 86a is secured to plate 86C with interposed insulation 86. Rod. 87 passes through and is pivotally rotatable in ears 88, 88 at opposite ends of a plate 88a secured at a suitable point on the side ot the casing of the counter. A coil spring 92 about rod 87 bears at its left hand end (Figs. 10 and 11) against plate 860 and at its right hand against plate 88a, the spring thus tending to move the rod 85 in the direction opposite the arrow in Fig. 10, thereby normally holding it in engagement with the periphery of disk 84; and the spring also tends to hold ears 86?), 86?) in engagement with ears 88, 88 respectively, thus opposing endwise movement of rod 87. An electric lead 89, which is in circuit with lead 75, lead 68, switch 61, and lead 62, conducts current to the contact point 86a; and when the cam projection 84a, rotating in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 10, engages and actuates rod 85 endwise, said rod and the plate 86o to which it is attached are rocked about rod 87 again-st the tension of spring 92 until the contact 86a is thereby moved into engagement with a cooperating contact point 90, whereby current is delivered through leads 91, 91a, 915 (Fig. 14), to energize the eleetromagnet 51, thereby actuating the brake-lever 53 and stopping rotation oi' all of the feed-rollers. The operator notes the particular counter 71 which has thus reached the count of one hundred and drops into the corresponding compartment on top of the bills therein a suitable separator, such as shown at a', Fig. Il, to thereby separate the bills already counted into that compartment from others which are to follow. The separators preferably approximate the length and width of the bills and may be made of any suitable material such as still' cardboard. All is now in readiness to restart the rotation of the feed-rollers and to continue the sorting and counting, it being recalled that at the counter which has brought about the application ot the brake the cam projection 84a, stands against the rod 85 holding contact 86a in engagement with contact v and thereby closing the circuit which enen gizes the brake-magnet 51.

v To restart the machine the operator first grips and moves the rod 87 toward thc right, Figs. 10 and 11 (which would be toward the left in the position in which the counter is positioned in the machine before the operator), to deenergize the brakeunagnet, and. then actuates pusher 59 to insure moving the brake-shoe out of grip with the groove oi the brake-druin in the manner before described. Said movement of rod 87 conipresses coil-spring 921 which resists the movement. This movement of rod 87 also moves rod 85 sidewise until it is disengaged from cam projection 8116/.; and by the action of spring 92 rod 85 is then moved endwisc (opposite the direction ol the arrow Fig. 10) into contact with a concentric portion o'l the periphery of disk 84E and at the same time pressed against the side of said ln'ojection 84a, all with the result oi" separatingr con tacts 86a and 90. )When the counter iurther actuated moving cam projection 8in, away from rod 87, the spring will more said rod sidewise (toward the left Fig. 19) back to its normal position with its end in the path of said cam projection, as shown in Fig. 10. i

Another embodiment of the counter stop mechanism is illustrated in Fig. 12, wherein a disk 93, provided with a cam projection 93a, is rotated by the tens numeralwheel 82. A complete rotation of disk 98 brings said cam projection 93a into action upon a contact 94 yieldingly supported by a resilient member 95, thereby moving contact 94 into engagement with cooperating contact 90 and thus completing an electric circuit which energizes the brake solenoid. applies the brake, and stops the feed-rollers. To restart the feed-rollers the operator lll) ips the handle or pin 96, which is rigid on t e contact vmember 94, and moves the latter toward the right (Fig. 12) off the cam solenoid.

Since the feed-rollers 18, 19 constitute contacts for completing an electric circuit, it

is desirable that the peripheries of the same be maintained free of dirt and other impurities which adhere to the bank notes and which are likely to accumulate to such an extent, on those portions of the peripheries of the rollers as make contact with the paper money, as to insulate said peripheries. Accordingly, meansare provided for maintaining clean those portions of the surfaces of the rollers which make contact with each other when no paper money is interposed. As shown, a sleeve 97 (Figs. 4 and 7) is slipped over a coil-spring 98 which is secured at its opposite ends to the bearing-block 36, whereby the sleeve 97 is yieldingly pressed against a small body of steel wool 99 and the latter thus crowded into engagementwith the periphery of wheel 19 with the cooperation of a bar 97a mounted on block 36. The central portion 18a of the lower feed-roller is maintained clean by means of steel wool 99 carried in a cup 100 that is secured to an arm 101 which is pivotally connected as at-102 to a frame f portion 103. The bight of a suitable spring 101e engages the arm 101 and yieldingly maintains the steel wool in engagement with the roller.

It may happen that the operator neglects to renew the steel wool after it has become impregnated with foreign matter and thus incapable of further cleaning. In such event the machine may cease to function properly and the attention of the operator may not be immediately called to that fact. It is therefore extremely important that further means be provided for insuring the How of current between the feed-rollers, when no bill is passing between the same, and that said means be soV constituted as not to interfere with the proper feeding of bills'into the machine and passage thereof through the rollers. Accordingly, a yielding contact 104 is secured to the block 36 and is adapted to engage the periphery of the lower feed-roll- -er 18, one of said contacts being provided for each pair of rollers. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the contact 104 comprises la rigid member 104e having at its upper end an eye whereby it is secured by a screw 105 to the block 36. The lowerend of member 104e is threaded to receive a coil-spring 104?) which carries on its lower extremity a threadedV steel stud or contact tip104c. The contact, and particularly its tip, bears on the lower feed-roller 18 at a point which is not opposed lby the upper roller 19 and hence is not likely to become cake-,d with impurities.

Due to the resiliency of` spring 1046 the contact does not interfere with and readily yieldsto and is displaceable by the pas- Sage of a bill between the pair of rollers.

lf desired, the machine may be so constructed that it is unnecessary to include the feed-rollers 18, 19 in the electrical circuit employed for actuating or controlling the actuation of the counters. As illustrated in i". 15, each pair of rollers is provided with a two-part lever operatively connected to the upper roller of the pair, whereby the passage of a bill betweenthe rollers will actuate said lever, due to the movement of said upper feed-roller, and`close a circuit leading to the associated counter71. vThe use of the armature 74 (Figs. 14'and 15) is then unnecessary since the closing of the circuit to the counter, by actuation of the two-part lever operates said counter. As shown, the two-part lever is constituted by members 46 and 47. tially right angle bends therein, and at its outer or front end is secured to the block or support 36 of the upper feed-roller. The member or bar 47 is pivotally secured to Member 46 has two substany ears 46a on the inner end of member 46. A

spring 48 normally maintains the forward end of member 47 in engagement with the upper edge of member 46 in a manner similar to that previously described in connection with the two-part lever 46-47. Suitably secured to the inner cnd of member`47' is a contact 49 which is normally out of engagement with a contact 50 mounted at a convenient point on the frame of the machine. Gontacts 49 and 50 areadapted to complete a circuit through the corresponding counter 71. When a bill is fed between the rollers 18, 19, the upward pivotal movement of roller 19 moves the .two-part lever upward, thereby engaging contact 49 with contact 50 and closing the circuit to the counter 7l, whereby the latter is actuated and the bill is counted. After the bill has passed completely through .the rollers, the latter again move into engagement and the circuit to the counter is again-broken at contacts 49, 50. Y

Means are provided for preventing bills discharged from flaps 60 into the upper compartments 6, or from flaps 5 into the lower compartments 7 from passing out of the compartment and said means are so constructed that the air pressure underneath a bill `falling into-a compartment 6 is equalized. As shown more clearly in-Fi'gs. 3 and 4, theiopen endof each of the upper com-- partments 6 is normally closed bya transerablythe width of the frame 106 is less than they width of the compartment', whereby airv may escape past the .closure and alsov Vparent door ,embodying a frame 106pivoted v -at 107 'toa suitable part of the frame.,k Prefthrough suitable openings 2a formed in the rear wall of the compartment. As shown, a chain 108 is secured to the lower central portion of the frame 106, the lower end of the chain extending to the bottom of the lower compartment 7. The chain by its weight normally maintains the transparent door or closure for the upper compartment in closed position and also prevents a bill or bills from passing out of the lower compartment. Each of the compartments is readily accessible for the removal of bills therefrom.

Since it is desirable at times to temporarily leave the machine with money in the lower compartments, means are provided for preventing ready removal of the money from said compartments. For this purpose a sectional cover 109, 109e (Figs. 1 and 16) is ivoted at 110 to the front of the machine ame, the end of section 109 overlapping the adjacent end of section 109e. Section 109 is provided on its free end with a plate 111 (Fig. 16). When the cover 109 is swung upwardly to close the compartments, plate 111 passes below the lower edge of frame 106 and projects beneath a pair of the flaps 5.,L

Since all of the flaps 5 are operatively connected for movement in unison, engagement of plate 111 under a single pair of the same prevents downward movement of all of the flaps 5.

As before stated, it is desirable and highly important to facilitate to the approximate maximum the handling and temporary storage of the paper money from the time it is received by an operator, or person entrusted with the assorting and counting thereof, until it leaves the custody of such person assorted andcounted and strapped in packages. To that end there is provided what has been termed an installation unit with said mechanism as a part of such unit. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, such unitary organization includes the assorting and counting mechanism supported at opposite ends on suitable legs with the electric motor mounted on the under side thereof clear of the floor. The operator may sit or stand in front of said mechanism while using the same to sort and count money. A Work-table 121 is arranged back to back with said mechanism and supported by suitable legs so as to face in a direction opposite that in which the mechanism faces. Above the mechanism and work-table there is a money-receiving cabinet 112 suitably divided interiorly, as by horizontal partitions 112a and vertical partitions 1121 to receive money both before and after it is assorted and counted by said mechanism. Cabinet 112 is closed at its top, bottom, sides and back and has an open front which may be closed by a hinged cover 113 adapted to be locked upon such occasions as the operator may desire to leave her on his installation unit with bills temporarily stored in the cabinet. Cabinet 112 is rotatably mounted and supported on a standard 114 and thereby adapted to be faced with its open front either toward the assorting and counting mechanism, or toward the ta le 112. A pin 117 engaged through ears 118 on the cabinet and through cooperating bracket arm 119 will secure the cabinet in one position; and the same pin 117 engaged through ears 120 on the cabinet and through said bracket arm 119 will secure the cabinet in the other position. Money to be sorted is placed in the compartments of the cabinet, and with the open front of the latter faced toward the mechanism said money is assorted and counted by the use of the mechanism and into the compartments thereof. As the lower compartments of the mechanism become full the assorted and counted money is removed therefrom and placed back in the compartments of the cabinet awaiting application of straps. When it comes time to apply the straps, the cabinet will be rotated 180 to face its open side toward the table, and the operator now standing before the table will remove from the cabinet 112 onto the table 121 the packages of money separated by the cardboard separators such as before mentioned and will apply to the packages paper bands or straps bearing the desired notations or data. A ille spindle 122 (Figs. 1 and 2) may be provided for receiving the paper bands taken from the straps of money just prior to passin the bills into the mechanism for sorting an counting, since these bands usually carry information which it is desirable to preserve, pending verification. Sponge-cup 123 may be provided at a convenient point on the front of the machine for moistening the fingers in handling the money.

Any danger of fire from electrical sparks or any likelihood of electrical shocks to the operator are avoided by proper insulation which need not be described in detail but which is illustrated in part in the drawings.

While there has thus been provided a machine which greatly facilitates and exped ites the sorting and coimting of paper money, it is to be understood that it is designed and adapted for a variety of uses, such for example as counting and sorting checks, bonds, 1h.

stock, transfers, tickets, etc.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a counter including in its construction a rotatable numeral indicator wheel; of a disc rotatable with said numeral wheel and having on its periphery a cam projection; an electric switch including a movable contact adapted to be engaged with a cooperating contact by the action of said cam projection; a carrier on which said movable Contact is mounted, said carrier being under yielding pressure tending to normally position it with a part thereof engaging the periphery of said disc in the path of said cam projection and with said movable CFI gagement with said cam projection and to a position disengagingsaid contacts.

2. The combination with a counter constituting a distinct unit in itself, of an electric switch including la movable contact and a cooperating contact; a carrier for said movable contact; spring means normally yieldingly holding and moving said carrier `to position to disengage said movable contact from its cooperating contact; a rotary actuator rotated by said counter mechanism and acting upon the count of a predetermined number to move said carrier, against the tension of said spring means, to position to engage said contacts; and a manually operable member associated with said carrier whereby it may be moved to position to disengage said contacts.

3. The combination with a counter constituting a distinct unit in itself, of an electric switch including a movable contact and a cooperating contact; a carrier for said movable Contact; spring'means normally yieldingly holding and moving said carrier to position to disengage said movable contact from its cooperating contact; means actuated by said counter mechanism upon the count of a predetermined number to move said carrier, against the tension of said spring means, to position to engage said contacts-and a manually operable member associated with said carrier whereby it may be moved to position to disengage 'said contacts.

4. A machine of the class described wherein rollers are employed for feeding bills into a compartment, said rollers constituting contacts in an electrical circuit which is broken each time a bill passes between the rollers, and wherein braking means are employed for stopping the rollers, the combination with said rollers of an electrical counter adapted to be actuated thereby, said counter constituting a distinct-unit in itself removable as such and including numeral wheels, a ca-m associated with one of said Wheels, a contact actuated by said cam, and a second contact adapted to be engaged by the firstnamed contact to energize said brake after a predetermined number of bills have been passed through the rollers.

5. A machine of the class described wherein rollers are employed for feeding bills into a compartment, said rollers constituting contacts in an electrical circuit which is broken each time a bill passes between the rollers, and Where-in brake means are employed for stopping the rollers, the combisecond contact adapted to be engaged by the Vfirst-named contact when the latter is actuated by said cam and thereby to complete a circuit through said brake means.

6. A machine of the class described wherein rollers are employed for feeding bills into a compartment, said rollers constituting contacts in an electrical circuit which is broken each time a bill passes between the rollers, and wherein brake means are employed for stopping the rollers, the combination with said rollers of an electrical counter adapted to be actuated thereby, saidcounter including numeral wheels, a cam associated with one of said wheels, a contact actuated yby said cam, resilient means normally maintainin said contact in the path of said cam, manna ly operable means for movin said contact out of the path of the cam, said contact being returned to its normal position by said resilient means, and a second contact adapted to be engaged b the first Contact when the latter is actuate by said cam and thereby to close a circuit through said brake means to stop the rollers after a predetermined number of bills have been passed therethrough.

7. A machine of the class described wherein rollers 'are employed for eedingbills into a compartment, said rollers constituting contacts in an electricalcircuit which is broken each time a` bill passes between the rollers, and wherein brake means are employed for stopping the rollers, the combination with said rollers of an electrical counter adapted to be actuated thereby, said counter including numeral wheels,- a cam associated with one of said wheels, a contact pivotally mounted adjacent said cam and adapted to be actuated thereby, a second contact adapted to'be engaged by they first-named contact when the latter is actuated by said cam and thereby to close a circuit through the brake means and stop the rollers, means vfor movin Vthe first contact out of engagement with t e second contact, and means for returning the firstnamed contact to normal position.

8. In a machine for counting aper money and the like, the combination o? a plurality of sets of bill-feeding rolls; a counter individual to and actuated under control of each set of rolls, said counter including an electro-magnet; a brake for simultaneously stopping all of the rolls; an electric switch associated with each counter and actuated thereby to effect the application of said brake to stop the rolls upon the count of a predetermined number; a circuit foreach counter magnet including contacts adapted to be opened and closed; and a circuit controlled by thc passage of bills between the feeding rolls and includin an electromagnet for openin and closing t e contacts in said first-name circuit.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

ALLAN E. LARD. 

